There are a number places in the modern organization where corporate video can be used to communicate. While traditionally a tool of the marketing or PR department, or reserved or advertising purposes – today’s media landscape allows any organization to use video in a number of different capacities. Here are four areas where video fits into the modern organization: Marketing Video is a powerful tool for the modern marketer; it can be used to educate and inform audiences in a variety of ways: Intro – Tell your story and connect with your clients, prospects, & partners in an impactful way that reaches audiences everywhere. Product – Focus on physical products, services, or experiences in a unique voice to connect with your target market. Capabilities – Share about the organization’s capabilities to influence buyer decisions any stage of the sales cycle. Training For educational purposes, video is relatable, flexible, and efficient. Further, video can serve a number of purposes for training: Onboarding – Educate new employees on culture, policy, & make the process both efficient and consistent for all new employees Partner – Training video assets are a powerful tool to influence how partners represent your brand in the field Continuing – Keep employees across the globe up-to-date on the latest knowledge & build stronger bonds with employees Events Annual conferences, experiential marketing events, and industry events provide a myriad of opportunities to utilize video. Highlight – Showcase the event to attract future attendees, sponsors, or exhibitors with a dynamic sizzle reel Keynotes – capture presentations at any event to leverage the appearance in your social media marketing efforts Sponsorship...

It’s seemed to me for a long time that the model of going to the movie theatre is broken. With the advent of our DVR-infused, binge watching, watch anywhere culture — the idea of going to a theatre to watch a movie for several hours seems antiquated, it just doesn’t appeal to me, and I’m sure I’m not alone. The question at hand then is, how does Hollywood tackle adjusting its business model to fit within the current culture. Regardless of the cultural shifts and the ability to access content from pretty much any corner of the globe, Hollywood has had a pretty tight grip on the distribution of new movies and the structure of the screening window (the system of when a movie is in theaters, available for purchase, rental, and then via cable and streaming) because there is a lot of revenue at stake. Despite that, from a consumption point of view, the current Hollywood system is broken; and I would argue that with these new technologies the reality is there is an entirely new world of revenue potential for these studios if they can find the right methodology to reach consumers. In order for Hollywood to catch-up with these shifts the answer lies in finding a path to the revenue to supplement the traditional Box Office. To that end, earlier this week, Netflix and the Weinstein Company announced a partnership. This relationship will debut the sequel to Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon simultaneously on both IMAX screens across the country, as well directly to the consumer via Netflix. Now, while the number of IMAX theaters is smaller than general...

While the Oscars celebration has wrapped up, the annual awards show serves as a poignant reminder as to all of the qualities of a good production. From lighting, to set design, audio, and effects the show showcases Hollywood's biggest productions, and at the same time offers perspective on the aspects that you need to keep in mind to produce and develop effective video content. Now, while your video production may be for marketing purposes, or to educate an internal audience, demonstrate a product, or share insights from new research or the C-suite, there are still similarities and lessons you can take away from The Oscars. Here are three lessons from the Oscars to keep in mind: Sometimes Less Is More: The Artist, winner of the Best Picture award, did something most of us would have thought impossible in 2012; they told their story with no spoken words. Quite a remarkable feet in this technology charged and Twitter powered media environment. That is not to say you should go without sound for your production, but it's an important reminder of an old production 101 maxim Keep It Simple Stupid. The Devil is In The Details: Many of Oscars awards actually fall behind the scenes for directing, lighting, costume design and editing. While these aren't the types of tasks that will energize your team about producing video for your organization (that's why we're here to help!) they're important parts of any production and all play a part in successfully telling your story. Everyone Has A Story: Gigi Causey and Andrew Bowler, a married couple, were nominated for their live-action short...

After thinking about the news that movies are going to be available for sale and rent on Facebook, I think there's a new battle brewing in the content distribution business. Sure this is just one announcement by one studio, but rest assured Facebook is seeking to identify and develop similar relationships with other movie studios and music labels. For Facebook, this is a natural fit, because so many of today's social interactions about pop culture are held on the social networking site. So, why not establish relationships with the content owners, and monetize those discussions. The relationship between Warner Brothers and Facebook does just that, it places movies in close proximity to the dialogue by Facebook's users about them. For example, a user can comment that they saw a movie and loved it; while another can disagree, but in-line with that discussion and available for all users can be a simple one-click option to purchase the content. Gone are the barriers of now heading to a brick & mortar location, or searching for the content on another site. This relationship provides for a simple integrated experience. Further, Facebook can foster those conversations and extend it's relationship with it's users while keeping them on the site longer. In a sense, with this news Facebook is reverse engineering the immensely popular iTunes store…where Apple is trying to build-out a social network with it's Ping offering, instead Facebook is bringing the content purchasing experience right into their site. In an age old chicken or the egg type of debate, we're left to wonder which will prove to be the winning strategy: first...

In the 1980's Howard Stern enjoyed tremendous success on the radio, and as portrayed in his 1997 film Private Parts, a lot of that had to do with people tuning in because they wanted to hear what was next. Fast-Forward to today where the paths of communication have expanded and outlets like Twitter give everyone a platform through which to speak. In terms of large-scale movement and attention, sure there was the Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) vs CNN (@CNNbrk) experiment to see who could reach a million followers first. And it has become commonplace in this current landscape to hear tweets from celebrities quoted in media coverage. But until now we have yet to witness a breakout personality that has moved both the online conversation, as well as traditional press coverage. That's changed with @CharlieSheen in the past week. Sheen's Twitter fueled campaign has been rather divisive, yet it has attracted so much attention across online and off-line platforms, it begs the question: is Sheen a modern Howard Stern? Perhaps previously an unlikely candidate for this role, Charlie Sheen has captivated audiences, who are simply wondering what he'll do next…and now that he's shown the ability to build an audience and keep us on the edge of our seats. So with that in mind, could Sheen become the next hot media personality? How does Sheen capitalize on this success, perhaps with a multi-platform approach unlike anything we've seen before? Maybe a certain satellite radio provider would be enticed to offer Sheen a show, he could continue to use the web to encourage new subscribers to sign-up, while continuing to build...

In looking beyond the circus that has surrounded Charlie Sheen's every waking move this past week, there are actually some lessons that communicators can take away. Despite Sheen's unique and controversial tirades, his campaign was carried out via an on-slaught of traditional broadcast interviews, married with his adoption of Twitter, and then the use of online video technology. The combination was uniquely powerful and successful in both engaging the audience and feeding today's never-ending news cycle. Now, while these lessons don't include adding #tigerblood to your campaigns, they highlight the opportunities that can be leveraged for your campaigns & provide some strategies to consider as you plan your next outreach efforts… Go Social – It seems hard to turn in any direction these days without seeing a mention of Twitter or Facebook, Sheen's outbursts are a vivid reminder of both the importance and extent to which social tools can help disseminate a message and propel a story. At one point over the weekend Sheen related hashtags took over 4 of the top 10 trending topics on Twitter. While the initiatives that many work on day-to- day may not be as polarizing or generate this extraordinary level of traction, the lesson is still valuable and reminds of the importance of integrating and promoting social components to PR & marketing campaigns, as there is power in these avenues to disseminate our messaging and reach new eyes & ears along the way. Tell Your Story With Video – In broadcasting live on Saturday night, in what was dubbed Sheen's Korner, the actor was able to take the steering wheel and control the...